Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
Racers Earn First Win of the Season over Eastern Kentucky
9/19/2009 3:51:43 PM | Women's Volleyball
Junior Becca Lamb led MSU for the second-straight match. The Highland, Ill., native had a team-best 12 kills and recorded a .440 (12k-1e-25ta) attack percentage. Sophomore Logan Su added nine kills, while junior Ashley Nenninger and sophomore Mary Cunningham tallied eight. Cunningham was also a key defensive player at the next, garnering six block assists.
The opening set was a back-and-forth battle, with 10 tie scores and five lead changes. At the beginning of the set both teams traded two and three-point runs several times. The final tie came at 18, when Nenninger sent a ball to the floor to force the tie score. The Racers then took control on a 4-0 run, with junior Sara Hayden at the service line. Hayden helped the rally with two-straight service aces. The Colonels (0-11, 0-2 OVC) kept fighting and managed to hold off set-point twice before Lamb ended the set with a kill down the line.
MSU took the momentum from winning the first set into the start of the second, earning a 5-0 lead. Guo started serving for the Racers and earned two service aces during the stretch. EKU countered with a 5-0 run of their own to knot the score at five. The teams then traded the next 14 serves that led to a 12-all score. The Colonels then took control of the energy with a 5-2 run and took a 17-14 advantage. MSU continued to battle and forced a 19-all tie. The Racers only allowed EKU to tally one more point the rest of the set on way to a 25-20 win.
The final set again saw both teams trading three to four-point runs that forced five ties and three lead changes. The final lead change went in favor of MSU after the score was knotted at 13. A kill by Cunningham sent Guo back to the service line where she stayed for five serves. At the end of Guo's serving streak the Colonels saw a 14-17 deficit on the scoreboard and they were never able to recover. After one serve for EKU, sophomore Kayleah Sauer stepped back to serve out the match. MSU benefited from four Colonel errors in the final seven points on its way to a 25-14 set and match victory.
For the second consecutive match blocking was a key for the Racers, as MSU tallied nine total team blocks (3.0/set) and only allowed EKU to garner three total team blocks. The offense was also strong for the Racers, with the team combining to hit above .300 for the first time this season. MSU earned a .337 (46k-11e-104ta) hitting percentage, with the Colonels hitting only .127 (31k-18e-102ta). Four of the five hitters on the court for the Racers had at least a .300 hitting percentage.
“Our positives are blocking and hitting so I talked to the team today about focusing on our positives,” head coach David Schwepker said. “I knew that we had this type of offense on our team to put up offense numbers like we did today.”
MSU has one match left in its home stand before returning to the road. The Racers host Eastern Illinois, Tuesday, Sep. 22 in Racer Arena at 7 p.m. MSU then travels to Jacksonville State (Sep. 25) and Tennessee Tech (Sep. 26) next weekend.
Notes: The Racers tallied a season-best nine service aces in the match, including career bests from Guo (3), Lydia Orf (2) and a season-high two service aces from Hayden…Guo also added a career-high six blocks…Nenninger tallied a career-best 14 digs.
Head Coach David Schwepker
“Right now we are struggling defensively. The change in our blocking was a key for us. The better we block the easier it will be for us defensively.”
“When you have one player that stands out, it makes it easier for the rest of the team.”
